Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine, Book 1) by Lilith Saintcrow

The Dante Valentine series has five books, and is apparently finished at five. I've only read the first book at this point, and it was a... most interesting book. Interesting enough that I've purchased the next four books and I'm just waiting for them to arrive.

It was a fun book, and kept me interested. And up later at night than is probably healthy. Though I didn't stay awake until it was finished in one night, I split it up into three nights.

One thing that bugged me at first but worked after a while: The author uses Necromance as a noun, when my brain wants it to be Necromancer. She plays around with a few other words as well, futurizing them into the world she has created. So, not a huge deal, but it bugged me at first.

I'll start with the blurb from the author's site.

Necromance-for-hire Dante Valentine is choosy about her jobs. Hot-tempered and with nerves of steel, she can raise the dead like nobody’s business. But one rainy Monday morning, everything goes straight to Hell.

The Devil hires Dante to eliminate a renegade demon: Vardimal Santino. In return, he will let her live. It’s an offer she can’t refuse.

There’s just one catch. How do you kill something that can’t die?

I like Dante (Danny to her friends). I enjoyed the worldbuilding, even if it is set in some sort of an alternate future reality, which normally isn't my thing. And the storyline was good. We once again have an orphaned protagonist, but that seems pretty par for the course these days.

The set up for the next books in the series is good. The next book is "Dead Man Rising", which gives me hope (I can't say hope for what, or it will be a spoiler). And there are two or three other plot lines started that we will have to wait for future books to find out what happens.

I enjoyed the book, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.





1. Working for the Devil
2. Dead Man Rising
3. The Devil's Right Hand
4. Saint City Sinners
5. To Hell and Back